“Was it you who requested that name?”
Leviks four eyes flicked open as he looked up to see who was talking to him. He had been sitting in silence at the newly opened Monument of Fallen Heroes at the Great Arenas, in front of a particular statue. While the person honoured by the statue was actually featured in a larger, more prominent statue elsewhere, this one was more personal and life-sized.
“Hi, Kohra.”
Kohra had somewhat just teleported in. Being a deity, he often forgot he could walk and move normally, and even now, he was hovering about an inch off the ground.
“Hi, Levik. You alright?”
Levik shrugged, turning back to the statue. “I’m okay, all things considered. I thought I’d be sadder about all of this, but I think I’m getting over it all. I mean, we already…” Levik trailed off briefly. “We already lost Tanos once. He disappeared and was presumed dead. So it happening again, I think I could swallow that loss better.”
“I get that. But you chose to have his name put down as Tenuk, right?”
“I did, yeah.”
Kohra inspected the statue. It was on a 1m tall plinth, which was pretty funny because the statue was life-sized and Tenuk had only been 1.3m tall. It matched the other statues though, they all had similar plinths, with a metal tag with their names engraved underneath.
“Why?”
“Because that was his name.”
Kohra frowned. “His name was Tanos. Tanos tou Ahvran.”
“No, his name was Tenuk.”
“I… I don’t follow.”
Levik sighed, turning back to the statue. It was just a white marble statue. No life, nothing. Levik had left a string of white flowers around the statue’s neck, as was tradition for dead relatives.
“Tanos hated being Tanos. He became Tenuk. He became a new person and became happy. He started off being Tanos but Tanos died and was replaced by Tenuk, who was just all-round better. Tenuk was who he wanted to be, it’s who he died as, and we should respect that, even after death.”
“I… I guess…” Kohra also sighed. He was upset. And the statue wasn’t helping matters. Kohra had been present alongside some of the other members of the Twelve Anew to unveil the Monument of Fallen Heroes, as had a bunch of gladiators. It had been nice meeting Levik’s friends, but also awkward. But it had also been awkward that someone had pointed out that Levik would one day die but Kohra was immortal and permanently a child.
Levik inspected Kohra for a moment. Kohra seemed to be holding something in. Like, some sort of secret.
“Is something wrong, Kohra?” Levik asked.
“Kinda.”
“Do you want to talk?”
“Yeah…” Kohra glanced around. He was clearly making sure that the coast was clear. When he realised he could be potentially heard, he sighed some more. “I’ll talk. But I want to take you somewhere private. Somewhere where no one can hear us.”
“Sure, I guess? Where do you want to go?”
“To my little villa. We’ll teleport there, and I’ll teleport you back when I am done.”
“Alright.”
Kohra took a deep breath, then grabbed Levik’s hand and blinked two of his four eyes. The two of them suddenly reappeared at Kohra’s villa, overlooking a small lake with glass beads instead of sand.
“Huh. Nice place. So… you… you really wanted to tell me something.”
Kohra nodded. “Yeah. The thing is… You remember when you worked out that Tenuk was Tanos?”
“Yeah?” Levik suddenly got it. “Wait… Tenuk isn’t dead?”
“No.”
“That… that thing about… about the Devil Serpent taking people with her… that… that was true?”
“Yeah.”
“But the Devil Serpent came back and became the Time Serpent. And she didn’t bring anyone back with her!”
“Yeah, I know. But… you know what happened at Elkay’s dumb library? How the holy Whenvern got corrupted and had to be put down?”
“Yeah? What about it?” Levik asked, before pausing. “Hang on, there was a… a rumour that… that people from outside the universe were there.”
Kohra nodded. “Yeah. One of them was a strange Skyavok-like guy who was apparently Epani and Ksini’s older brother from a previous universe. One of them was a Rethavok with wings and time powers. The last guy though was… was Kayel. The Skyavok from Xeno Dessaron One. And he told me Tanos was alive. He even said he’d give Tanos a hug from both of us.”
Levik blinked, unable to answer, his mouth opening and closing blankly. Eventually, he managed to say something.
“Is… is there a way to talk to him?”
“Not… not directly… But Elkay has an indirect way to pass on messages. It’s only supposed to be used for emergencies, but, well… I suppose I can ask, I guess?”
“Tenuk is alive though, right? Is anyone else alive? Or is it just Tenuk, Kayel, Retvik and Nyssi?”
Kohra thought for a moment, then sighed. “I don’t have an answer. And I’m not even supposed to tell anyone. If anyone asks, I have a list of pre-chosen answers I’m supposed to give. Because Epani and Ksini know that what is outside the universe is dangerous as heck and don’t want anyone going out there and risking everything.”
“That… that makes sense… Still…” Levik perked up a bit. “I feel better knowing that he’s not gone. I assume I can’t tell anyone?”
“Yeah, no, gotta keep our lips shut. That’s why I brought us here. Because no one can hear us here. You can keep a secret, right?”
“I can, yeah…” Levik fell silent, then looked around a little. “So… you live here?”
“Yeah.”
Levik smiled. “It’s nice. Really nice.”
“Don’t you live in a box?”
“I do but I like my place. And I spend half my time with Kass, Timik and Abius now. And I am thinking of getting a bigger place soon.”
“Ah… Well…” Kohra also looked around a little. “Do you want to swim in the lake with me? It’s just the right temperature now.”
Levik’s smile turned into a grin. “Sure, why not?”